The present invention relates to outdoor cooking units and relates in particular to such units which are fired by ordinary charcoal briquettes or by lava rock briquettes which are fired by an auxiliary heat source such as a propane or other natural or synthetic gas burner.
The invention also relates to the use of anti-stick coatings applied to the cooking surface where the structure and operation of the cooking unit is designed to avoid overheating the anti-stick coating and to preclude direct flame contact with the anti-stick coating.
The use of anti-stick coatings such as tetrafluoroethylene, marketed under the trademark TEFLON, or other fluorocarbon polymers in outdoor cooking grill applications have been avoided because of the high temperatures produced by gas grill heat sources. The temperatures reached on the cooking grates of gas grills are approximately 900.degree. F. when measured in extreme conditions such as with the top cover closed. This has precluded the use of fluorocarbons such as "TEFLON" non-stick surfaces for this application under the standard configurations. The reason is that the polymer will degrade at these temperatures, give off fumes which may cause polymer fume fever, a flu-like fever. The properties of these resins are such that the acceptable usable temperatures are 500.degree. F. for continuous service. Also the contact by fire may decompose the resins and produce toxic fumes. To consider the use of the fluorocarbons in this application, these two areas must be avoided, high temperatures and no contact with fire. To accomplish this some modifications to the process must be incorporated.